US Supreme Court denies certiorari in Thaler v. Perlmutter AI copyright case

The U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari on March 2, 2026, in Thaler v. Perlmutter. This action ended a legal challenge to the Copyright Office's refusal to register an artwork generated by an artificial intelligence system. Dr. Stephen Thaler developed a generative AI system called the Creativity Machine. The system autonomously created an artwork titled A Recent Entrance to Paradise. Thaler filed a copyright registration application in 2018 that listed the AI as the sole author and acknowledged that the work lacks traditional human authorship. The Copyright Office denied the application. Thaler sought judicial review in federal district court, and the district court granted summary judgment for the Copyright Office. It held that human authorship is a bedrock requirement of copyright. The D.C. Circuit affirmed that decision in March 2025. The appeals court found that the Copyright Act requires human authors. It cited provisions on ownership, duration based on the author's life, joint authorship, and registration signatures. Thaler then petitioned the Supreme Court for review. He argued that the lower court decisions created a chilling effect on anyone considering using AI creatively. The Department of Justice opposed the petition, emphasizing that the case was a poor vehicle for broader questions about AI-assisted authorship because Thaler had disclaimed any human creative contribution. The Supreme Court denied certiorari. The denial concludes this particular litigation, although broader questions about AI authorship remain open.